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Title: Snow Falling on Cedars (Penguin Readers, Level 6) by David Guterson, Christopher Tribble, Andy Hopkins ISBN: 0-582-41928-X Publisher: Pearson ESL Pub. Date: 27 March, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.93 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (631 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Captivating and real
Comment: World War II sets the stage for this compelling and different tale. It's the 1950s, in Washington state, and the tensions between the Japanese and Americans is still thick in the air.
What's so amazing about this book is not the premise (which alone would make it worth reading), but rather its combination of genres. The only two other books that come to mind--books that combine genres so successfully--are Capote's IN COLD BLOOD, and McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. Capote's book, at the time it was written, was a combination of mystery, fiction, fact, and superb gray area thrown in for good measure. The result was a hybrid novel. In McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, he combines styles and voices effectively. This, along with the hybridization of genres (mystery, fiction, history, literary,humor) makes it one of the most unique books out there, something akin to SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS. And in Guterson's book, a similar effect is achieved. It's part mystery, part history, part romance, and certainly great literature. Then there is the racism theme (again, similar to McCrae, Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, or even the more recent SECRET LIFE OF BEES) which never really goes out of style.
But the most intriguing aspect of SNOW is that of character development and its relation to the plot. Rarely has an author so deftly woven the fabric of people, place, and history so well together. This, accompanied by the fact that not a lot of novels are set in this area of the country--the Pacific Northwest--makes it an interesting reall all-round.
This is one book you'll want to read more than once--it's not only entertaining, but a pleasure to curl up with. Do yourself a favor and buy it.
And the movie ain't half bad either . . .
Also recommended: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD
Rating: 5
Summary: What more could you want from a book?
Comment: History, mystery, romance. What more could you want? Snow Falling on Cedars, however, is much more than just those three genres. It's a piece of sensory writing, lyrical and visceral. Set on an island in the straits of Puget Sound, the book is a story of this island of fishermen and farmers that serves as a cosmos for the bigger world outside, during the 50s when lingering memories of internment of Japanese during World War II still affected the lives of those whose lives were either disrupted or changed forever by that event.
This is a book to be savored, shared, and discussed; most of all, it's a book not to be missed.
Rating: 4
Summary: Not commercial pacing, but lingering and thought provoking.
Comment: The setting is an island off the Washington Coast during the 1950's. I thoroughly enjoyed the beautifully descriptive passages of the landscape and the snowy setting. I was especially enchanted by the childhood explorations of Ishmael and his friend Hatsue into the natural world of the shores and forests of the Pacific Northwest. However, I often found the pace of the novel too slow and the flashbacks confusing. At points in the story, I struggled to continue reading and I thought I would give this book a lower rating. But I found myself thinking about Snow Falling on Cedars long after I'd read it. I read a lot of books and the lingering impression merits a higher mark.
The story opens with the discovery of the corpse of one of the town's fisherman. Hatsue, the wife of the accused murderer and Ishmael, now the town journalist covering the courtroom events, were romantically involved in high school before WWII separated them. The ensuing murder trial is interspersed with a series of flashbacks revealing the evolution of Ishmael and Hatsue's friendship into a secret romance, the family's expectation that Hatsue marry a man of Japanese heritage and the personal consequences if she does not, the treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII, Ishmael's combat experiences and the community's hidden undercurrent of racism by both the Caucasians and the Japanese.
After I finished the book, I found myself thinking of Ishmael's love for Hatsue, the demands of family, the cost of love, prejudice, jealousy and the effect of closure on one's ability to move forward in life. Was Ishmael and Hatsue's relationship really stunted by the influence of family and society or was the love one-sided? The issues were dealt with in a manner too similar to real life to provide instant gratification - jumbled memories, resolutions that are difficult to figure out for yourself even if obvious to others, the past can be hard to let go of, sometimes you never really know how another person viewed the same situation, there are no easy answers...
If you are looking for a fast paced entertaining novel, don't read this book. Watch the movie instead. It does a great job capturing the overall tone and effect of the book and is faithful to the events of the novel. But if you are up for a challenge, the quiet tone together with the thought provoking issues make Snow Falling on Cedars worthwhile.
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Title: Cliffs Notes on Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars by Richard P. Wasowski ISBN: 0764585673 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Cold Mountain : A Novel by Charles Frazier ISBN: 0375700757 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 August, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: East of the Mountains by David Guterson ISBN: 1400032652 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 08 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars: A Reader's Guide by Jennifer Anne Haytock ISBN: 082645321X Publisher: Continuum Pub Group Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title:Snow Falling on Cedars ASIN: 0783240325 Publisher: Universal Studios Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $14.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.48 |
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